Forgiveness

Spring Break is finally here! 
The weather may decide to cooperate too! Due to our recent hectic travel schedule and budget constraints we are "staycationing" this year. Fine but me! Let's do this!After an usually rough weekend Sunday afternoon Brought a much needed sigh of relief! The McGuire family decided to take to these hills! Everyone but Kylie enjoyed the nice little hike. Kylie opted for passing from shoulder to shoulder. With the reserved energy she happily sang "Down to the River to Pray." Colten enjoyed finding habitats and fire wood. While Macy dodged the thorns and helped Kylie. Hopefully we can have many adventures this week!

MONDAY:
We ventured out to the Promise Land Zoo! We had nice sunny weather for exploring. Kylie was very excited to see so many different animals.  Macy enjoyed feeding all the different animals. Colten wasn't quite so excited to get that close!  Monday night we took the kids to see the Presley's. Kylie LOVED the comedy bits! Macy loves everything about it! Colten was quiet, but enjoyed the show! 

WEDNESDAY:
We finally made it to the Butterfly Palace. The morning started out pretty rough! However, the Butterfly Palace was well worth the effort to get the wild McGuire children out and about! There were so many beautiful butterflies everywhere. The new nectar containers were a big hit! The mirror maze was fun! The educational video was very entertaining, "Reproduction is what insects do best!" 


THURSDAY:
The big outing for the day... SILVER DOLLAR CITY! The kids had so much fun exploring Marble Cave, playing in the tree house, and shooting each other in the fireman's landing! It was crowded with other spring breakers! We left early to make Emmalea's volleyball game... She won and played very well.

Psalms 36

How could those verses be placed there? 

Dropped right in front of such a cozy passage and I never noticed? God's love is for those who have no fear or respect for Him. His love is for those too hardened to feel His unconditional love. His love is for the ones written off as hopeless, rebellious, and too far gone! 

Read Psalms 36 and you will see what I'm saying! 

This photo is in no way related to this revelation this morning. However, it is a wonderful example of hope, redemption, and God's faithful pursuit. 

Through the Mountains...

Life has been a lot of ups and downs lately. It seems as though we've had the "church camp" high from the amazing blessings through the building process at Bridge of Faith. I wish I had kept the letters and a journal of the love and support that God showered on our little church family.  However, anytime there is a high there will eventually be a low. Sometimes it's in the low's of life that growth happens. God has shown me several things lately: 1. He always been there for me. 2. He has always provided for me. AND 3. He has already made a plan for each and every issue that may come up in life. It's in the Bible... However, sometimes I need books written by others smarter than I am to interpret these plans for me... none the less God designed a way for me to travel through the ups and downs of life while maintaining peace. PEACE. I've missed peace. I've let things (anxiety, fear, anger, bitterness) steal the peace God has had planned for my life.  We've been taught that once we are "saved" we no longer need to repent. However, repentance is where you find peace. I am not perfect... I've had sinful thoughts (anxiety, fear, anger, bitterness). I've also allowed God to forgive me and I have peace. Peace. I've found peace through forgiveness. I've been empowered through God's word to begin living above sinful thoughts (anxiety, fear, anger, bitterness). If I could share anything with my "Christian" friends... it is peace. God made a plan for us to be at peace... free from the stress of the journey through the mountains of life. For my friends that aren't believers in Christ... There is Hope. There is a peace that only God can provide. I am thankful that God has called my husband and our little family into a life of sharing God's peace.  

"For the word of God is alive and active, Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." 

Hebrew 4:12

Anyone looking for a good book to read I highly recommend, "Heart of the Problem" By Henry Brant & Kerry Skinner ISBN: 978-0-8054-1667-1

The things kids say...you

So obviously our children are P.K.'s (pastor's kids)... we try to do things that make our kids want to come to church and love church and love everyone there... but kids get their own ideas. Our church loves children and loves outreach. We bus in loads and loads of kids and we all share the responsibility in looking after them once they are at church. I really like to think our church is very child friendly. However, it seems this compassion has left poor little Macy very confused. Each Wednesday night at the end of each class the teacher will separate the bus children and get them ready to load, it is very important especially with the little ones who don't notice if they get on the wrong bus.  Last night during this process Macy's teacher Miss Kristen asked the bus students to please line up. Macy announces to the class that she doesn't not have to ride the bus BECAUSE SHE HAS PARENTS! Oh my word! This kind of embarrassed me a little. What have I said to make her think that all these kids do not have parents. I haven't decided how to address this topic, but I found the comment to be somewhat humorous, but I assume this will be one of many times that what I hear coming out of my child's mount has me thinking about what has been coming out of mine!

Little Prayers

I always have the fear in the back of my mind that raising children in the ministry is dangerous... that they might hear too many much or experience to much while they are so young. On the other hand, I hope that being exposed to so many people will give them compassion. We can always hope. We always pray before meals and at bed time... I love little kid prayers so I've always asked Macy if she would like to pray, but she is pretty bashful and has always declined. However about a month ago Macy decided that she was ready to pray... I was pumped! So here is what she says (a nap time prayer): Dear God, thank you for our food. thank you for Macy's town. Thank you for all the people in Macy's town. Amen.  I gotta tell you lately I haven't been feeling the love for Rockaway. Sometimes it's hard to be patient and wait for change, but from the mouth of my three year old daughter... We are thankful for Macy's town and everyone in it! A few days later she wants to pray at meal time... I believe it was lunch. Here is what she says: Dear God, Thank you for our food. Thank you for Jonathan. Thank you for Amy. Thank you for Colten and thank you for Macy. Amen.  Some days it feels like nothing you do is important, but to her it is and it is always nice to hear it. I love the simplicity and truth to such little prayers. I love my kids and I love what they teach me!

It's been a while...

Well, it's been a while since I've written a blog... Life is busy with two little kids running around! (today yelling) You know I expected the work to increase, but WOW... little boys are a handful! With all joking aside I love my kids... It's hard to imagine life without them! So much has happened since my last post... The new church building has been built, Macy turned three, we had Colten, and he is already 1! Things have been up but they have also been down. This August we lost a baby and with that came many emotions. We have been so blessed and I don't want to seem ungrateful, but the sadness has been overwhelming at times. However, God is faithful and He is good all the time. Church is going well and with the new space brings new growth. We have added a very nice (free) bus. Church is becoming healthier... it seems like we have more workers. We always need more, but things are looking up! The winter has been tough... several deaths and I hate death. It's so sad and I'm human so it's hard to imagine what heaven will be like. It's hard to not be sad when we lose someone. I'll never get used to it, but I guess that is how we are designed so it's ok. I think I'm going to start blogging more... Macy has started gymnastics so I'm sure that will provide some fresh material and Colten is into everything!!